Ethnic Communities Minister Peseta Sam Lotu-Iiga has condemned anti-Semitic speeches by an Auckland Muslim cleric and says there is no place in New Zealand for such intolerance.

“Anti-Semitic attacks of the kind made by Shaykh Dr Mohammad Anwar Sahib at an Auckland mosque, and online, are offensive and insulting. The comments are way out of step with New Zealand’s egalitarian values,” Mr Lotu-Iiga says.

“The New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 gives everyone the right to freedom of expression, including the right to seek, receive and impart information and opinions of any kind in any form. But hate speech is prohibited under Section 61 of the Human Rights Act.” Read more »

UPDATE: Since this article and other articles were published the subject of our article Shaykh Anwar Sahib has published the following press release where he denies that what he said in the video below was hate speech and he also complains that our article did not provide links to his videos in full so that people can decide for themselves whether his statements were taken out of context. I highly recommend that our readers do view his videos in full. You can view them here on the Masjid at-Taqwa mosque Youtube channel.

A shocking video has surfaced containing excerpts of a number of Auckland sermons and lectures given by Shaykh Dr Mohammad Anwar Sahib between April 2014 and November 2016 in which he repeatedly uses appalling anti-Semitic slanders and libels and denigrates women. In one sermon, he calmly calls Jews “the enemy of Muslims” and claims that:

Of more concern is that Dr Sahib is the President of the At Taqwa Mosque in Manukau, Auckland (where the comments were made, and from where they were broadcast on YouTube) and is also (according to FIANZ and his CV) secretary of the Federation of Islamic Associations of New Zealand (FIANZ) Ulama Council and FIANZ Advisory Board. The FIANZ Ulama Council is responsible for religious affairs in the New Zealand Muslim community, including family counselling and dispute resolution. Dr Sahib also claims to be an adviser to the New Zealand government on Halal issues. Read more »

Many of our New Zealand laws have not kept up with technology so laws designed for one thing are clumsily applied to another. One glaring example of this problem is how the law applies to e-cigarettes. E-cigarettes and ordinary cigarettes are legal and tobacco is legal but the e-liquids that contain nicotine and that are needed for e-cigarettes cannot be sold legally. People can buy e-liquids online and import them for personal use but it is still illegal to sell them.

This will surprise many consumers who have purchased them in New Zealand from both physical and online shops. New Zealand remains in legal limbo with a Ministry of Health that is choosing to not prosecute retailers who flout the law and a government who as yet has not changed a law that clearly needs changing. If Tobacco is legal it makes no sense at all that liquid nicotine should be illegal.

Perhaps he won’t be so pleased as a crime wave sweeps across the nation all because of increased taxes.

Dairy owners are fortifying their businesses as the lucrative black market for tobacco fuels a wave of commercial break-ins.

Burglars have targeted up to 20 cigarette retailers – predominantly dairies and service stations – in about the last fortnight in Christchurch, making off with thousands of dollars worth of tobacco products.

Police have launched an investigation dubbed Operation Smoke as they try to catch those responsible. They are yet to make any arrests, but have some suspects.

A dairy owner, who did not want to be identified, said thieves smashed through the wooden backdoor of his business in south Christchurch, about 1.30am on September 24.

They used a crowbar to open a locked cabinet inside and stole about $10,000 worth of tobacco products. Read more »

Perhaps the National party need to reacquaint themselves with their founding principles, which say:

“To promote good citizenship and self-reliance; to combat communism and socialism; to maintain freedom of contract; to encourage private enterprise; to safeguard individual rights and the privilege of ownership; to oppose interference by the State in business, and State control of industry”.

Certainly, John Key and Sam Lotu-Iiga have scant memory of those principles despite being the leader and a minister in a National-led government.

It passed its second reading on Thursday after being on hold since 2014.

The government last month confirmed it was going to put it through, and unveiled the proposed new brown-green packaging which is similar to that used in Australia.

Prime Minister John Key said at the time plain packages could be on the shelves early next year.

The government first mooted plain packaging back in 2012, the year Australia introduced it, and the bill passed its first reading in February 2014.

It went to a select committee, which supported it, but the government didn’t want to take it any further at that time because it was worried about the possibility of costly legal challenges from big multi-national tobacco companies.

The Australian government was being sued at the time, but in December last year legal action by Philip Morris failed.

A convicted sex offender, Zane McVeigh, led the Wellington police on a brief chase yesterday after removing his electronic bracelet.

It was believed there were still 19 people evading the authorities after removing their devices.

Sensible Sentencing Trust founder Garth McVicar said the monitoring system had systemic problems, and was putting the public at risk.

“We advocated that it would only be for low-level, non-violent offenders. But now you’re seeing top end, violent offenders being put out there.

“It was always going to happen when they started expanding the use of it,” he said.

“Ultimately, really we don’t have an option but to use prison more for those violent offenders, and those that are just going to give their middle fingers to the system.”

That’s the scary thing. We have known sex offenders in the community. I say known, but of course we’re not allowed to know who they are. It’s a total secret. Could be the next person you meet. Read more »

Surprised? What happened to the “no surprises” policy that operated between the government and its departments?

John Key has admitted he was surprised to find out there are 18 prisoners who have “slipped” their electronic monitoring bracelets currently on the loose.

The Prime Minister said while the number was only a tiny portion of the 3500 prisoners released into the community who are monitored electronically, he was still a “little bit surprised” at the number who have managed to get the bracelets off.

“I don’t know all the details about how they’re actually getting them off but as a percentage of the people that actually wear an electronic bracelet it’s a very tiny fraction of those. Obviously one is one too many.

“The number moves around quite a bit…there are actions that are taken but on balance its still a very small number.”

Mr Key told media in Auckland today electronic monitoring was something the Government would be constantly looking at. Read more »

That filthy little child rapist cut it off and got a 7-hour head start.

Not only should that not be possible, the repercussions for cutting one off should be severe. So severe that it simply isn’t worth doing.

The Government says it will press on with plans to expand the use of electronic monitoring for offenders amid concerns about two high-profile cases in which child sex abusers breached their GPS-tracking conditions.

Convicted child rapist Daniel Livingstone was arrested by police on Friday after removing his electronic anklet in the early hours of Thursday morning. His case came shortly after Tony Robertson, another child abuser, was sentenced on Thursday for a murder committed while wearing an electronic anklet.

Parliament is considering a bill that would expand the use of electronic monitoring further – to people who are temporarily released from jail and to those who are on “intensive supervision” conditions in the community. The legislation was backed unanimously at its first stage. Read more »